Goodbye
by LukeAndLorelai Brucas Fan
Summary: My version of events from where the season 3 finale left off.


I know what you're all thinking, 'she's got three stories going at once what the hell is she doing starting a 4th?' Well I'm not this is just a one-shot. I had to write it or I would have gone absolutely mad, (although if you knew me you'd be thinking I am already.)

So it was 12:30 am and I could not sleep. I felt like I was going to vomit and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't turn my mind off. I had a feeling (more like I was praying) this would fix everything.

Andit did. I sat in front of the computer for about ¾ of an hour, and then I was finally able to sleep. Four days later - 2 day after the episode aired - I can now sleep and I feel much better. Here you go. This is what I think will happen after the death of Marissa Cooper.

Ryan held her in his arms as her breathing became more and more laboured.

"Marissa, Marissa? Marissa. Marisa…"

"Ryan, Ryan.

"Ok. Ok, I'm gonna get help ok?"

"No… No."

"I have to. You need to go to a hospital."

"Stay, stay."

"It's gonna be ok. It's gonna be ok" Ryan promised her. She began to breathe very heavily, and then stopped. "Marissa. Marissa… Marissa, No. No, no." he shook her, trying to wake her, but even as he did, he knew she was gone. There was nothing anyone could do now.

He could never remember how long he sat there holding her. All he knew was sometime later that night he managed to carry her into the Cohen's house as they were all preparing for bed.

"Ryan? Is that you?" Kirsten called as she turned off the lights in the kitchen. He didn't answer, but she came into the room anyway. "What are you- Oh my God!" as son as her eyes fell on the bundle in his arms she froze.

"Marissa? Is she...?" she couldn't bring herself to finish the question, but in her heart she knew the answer. "Sandy!" she turned back to the kitchen as her husband walked out.

"Hey honey. Ryan, what are you still doing up?" he hadn't looked at the boy closely yet. But slowly his eyes focused. "Oh, Ryan, what happened?"

"There was an accident. We were on our way to the airport, and… I wanted to go for help but she told me not to. I didn't know what to do."

"Put her down son." The older man moved forward to help place Marissa down gently.

"Hey, what's going on? I thought you guys were going to bed." Seth came down the stairs rubbing his eyes, having previously been in a dark room.

"Seth, go get the phone."

"What are we doing up though? I mean it's getting pretty late. Wait, shouldn't Marissa been on a plane to Hawaii?"

As her son spoke the dead girl's name, Kirsten burst into tears. She couldn't deal with more death. It was so hard, especially when their families were so close.

"Seth. Now."

"Ok. Ok." He walked away to find the phone. As he came back he finally realised that there was blood caked on the side of her head, and she wasn't moving. At all.

"Oh my God, what happened?"

"Just take Ryan and your mother into the kitchen please." Sandy commanded as he took the phone and dialled.

"Julie? It's Sandy. I'm sorry to call so late, but I have some bad news. Could you get Neil to bring you and Kaitlin over? You need to hear this in person." He hung up after she sleepily agreed and turned back to the girl on the couch.

"Oh Marissa, what am I going to say to them?"

"Nothing." Ryan told him. "I'll do it. I was driving. This was my fault."

"No, kid, this wasn't you."

"I had one thing to do. Get Marissa on a plane to her dad's. That's all I had to do. How hard is that? But I messed up. If anyone should have to tell Julie that her daughter is dead, it should be me."

"Ryan-"

"No Sandy. I Have to do it."

"Ok. I'll be right here, if you need me." He would have said 'when' but he wasn't sure if Ryan would need him to step in.

As they waited, Ryan decided to get some warm water and a towel to clean up Marissa's face. Sandy tried to do the same for him, but he pushed him away. They sat for twenty minutes until they heard a car stop out the front.

Julie didn't bother knocking she just barged right in, followed by a very sleepy looking Neil. Kaitlin walked in slowly behind them.

"What's happened Sandy? You do not just call a woman in the middle of the night and tell her there's some bad news. Do you know what kinds of things go through a person's mind with no information?"

"Mom, stop." Kaitlin warned when she took in the faces of the two males across the room.

"No I will not stop. I-"

"Julie. Please, can you just let Sandy talk?" Neil asked her rubbing his eyes, trying to

keep himself awake.

"Fine. Talk."

Summer walked down the stairs just Sandy was about to speak.

"What's going on you guys? Where's Seth?"

"Actually, Ryan wanted to take this one, so I'll just wait."

"I… I never meant for anything to happen. Everything was fine. We were almost there, and then there was a car behind us, honking and flashing their lights. I tried to move, but they banged into the back of us… We got pushed off the road and over-turned… I didn't know what to do. She wouldn't let me go to find help. I just… There was nothing I could do. I'm sorry."

"What are you talking about? Almost where?" as the last question left her lips, Sandy and Ryan stepped aside, to reveal the body on the couch.

"Oh my God! Marissa!" Summer cried out as she saw her best friend, lying motionless.

"Marissa?" Julie said her name, expecting her to just roll over and smile, but nothing happened. She turned to Ryan with fire in he eyes. "What did you do? You did this! How could you let this happen?"

"Julie, it was an accident. The other driver-"

"No, Sandy, she's right. It was me. It was my responsibility. I let everyone down."

"No, no, no, no. No, this can't be real." Julie cried as Neil slowly stepped forward and pulled her into his arms.

Kaitlin was yet to move. She stood completely still, staring at her big sister, trying to make sense of everything.

"Who was it? Did they stop?" Neil asked, trying to stay rational, and speak for the emotional woman in the room.

"It was Volchok. He didn't stop but I saw him. He wanted me to pull over so he could talk to Marissa, but she wouldn't let me."

"We should call the police."

"Already done. Paramedics are on their way to look at Ryan too. I thought I could do something useful while I hid in the next room. Oh God. I can't believe what I am looking at right now." Seth said all in one breathe as he walked over to Summer. She quickly wrapped her arms around him and hid her face in his chest as tears poured from her eyes.

"Ok. Good. We'll talk to the police, and then I'll take the girls home. I think we should probably move to the kitchen, Sandy."

"Yes of course. We should do that, come on girls. Kaitlin, do you need a hand?"

The young girl took a deep breathe before storming away from the group. She walked right through the kitchen and sat outside by the pool as everyone stood back and watched.

The eight of them waited in the kitchen for the authorities to arrive. As they sat there, Kirsten slowly moved to make coffees, even though no one really wanted one they all took them anyway.

Once the police arrived, they wanted to talk to Ryan alone, and then everyone else, just in case they knew anything useful. Julie demanded that they find the monster that did this and lock him up for life.

After the paramedics forced Ryan to go with them to the hospital Dr. Roberts decided it was time to take the girls home. But Summer didn't want to leave. She stayed with Seth for the night.

No one got much sleep. All they could do was lie in their beds and cry.

Kaitlin hadn't cried though. The entire time she was at the Cohen's she just sat there, not speaking, not moving, just like Marissa…

When she got to the house, she went straight to Marissa's room and climbed into bed with one of her sister's favourite shirts, letting the flood gates open.

Volchok just kept on driving. Heather sat there, screaming at him to stop, but he continued to drive until the car ran out of gas.

When they finally stopped moving, Heather climbed out of the car and ran back down the road, in search of the last gas station she had seen.

He didn't move. He sat in the driver's seat, staring ahead, watching it over and over again.

Marissa and Heather screaming at him to stop. Then Ryan's car moving off the road. He hadn't seen the whole thing, but he was sure that the car would have over turned and exploded.

"_What are you doing!"_

"_Pull over. RYAN!"_

"_Pill over!"_

He couldn't make her stop screaming, her voice was on surround sound in his head and there was no way he could turn it off.

"I'm sorry." He whispered before bashing the wheel until his hands bled.

It was six am and Ryan was sitting in the pool house.

This was supposed to be a happy day. High school was over, they were supposed to have college to look forward to, but now all he could think about was Marissa Cooper.

He sat still as Seth and Summer walked in and sat in their favourite spots in the room. Neither of them said a word for a long time.

"I should have done more. I should have done something… anything." Ryan finally said, breaking the very heavy silence.

"You couldn't have saved her man." Seth reminded him. "The paramedics told us, that her injuries were too severe. Even if by some miracle, you had gotten her to a hospital, there was nothing they would have been able to do."

Ryan looked up at his two best friends.

Even if that were true, he would never stop blaming himself. Every time he would see the faces of the people that loved Marissa, he would be reminded of how he had let them all down.

Sandy sat down in his office and began to dial. He didn't want to make this phone call but he was probably the only one who could handle saying the words.

"Jimmy? Sandy Cohen."

"Sandy, how are you doing?"

"Ahh, not so good, listen there's been an accident. And I think you should maybe try to get back here."

"What do you mean? What kind of accident? Are Julie and the kids ok? Kirsten?"

"Julie and Kirsten are fine. So is Kaitin. But um, Marissa-"

"What happened Sandy?"

"Ryan was driving her to the airport and they were run off the road. She didn't make it. I'm so sorry."

"What? You're kidding right?"

"I would never ever, joke about something like that.

"I can't believe this. When… When did it happen?"

"Last night, around ten o'clock."

"And she's really..?" he trailed off, unable to say it.

"Yeah she is. We had the paramedics come and check Ryan. Julie demanded the try and wake Marissa, but there was nothing they could do."

"I… I'll ah, get the first plane today. I can probably be there just after lunch."

"I'll pick you up, bring you to the house. You can stay with us."

"Thanks Sandy. I've… I've gotta go, make the arrangements."

"Sure. I'll see you in a few hours." They hung up and Sandy dropped his head into his hands.

Jimmy put down the phone with a shacking hand. He looked at his desk, at the pictures of his little girls, and he screamed. He lunged for the desk, overturning it, and throwing everything on top, across the room.

After tearing up every piece of paper he could get his hands on, he picked up a framed photo of Marissa. It was her sixteenth birthday, and she was smiling at the camera in a way that looked as if only she knew how.

She was so happy. That was before everything got screwed up. Before it became apparent that life in Newport was not meant to go smoothly for a Cooper.

He sat there, staring at his daughter's face for so long, he could never remember exactly how much time had passed, before he picked up the phone and made arrangements for another flight.

Kirsten went to check on the kids. She knew they had all been out in the pool house at sometime that morning, but she wasn't sure if they were all still there. Walking in, she found Seth and Summer asleep on Ryan's bed. But Ryan was nowhere to be seen.

"Open up!" Ryan yelled pounding on the door. "Open the goddamn door now!" he bashed the door until it began to throb, and then he just hit harder and harder. Finally the door opened to reveal Volchok.

For the second time since Ryan met him, he looked scared. It was still a strange sight.

"What happened? Is she ok?"

"Do you know what you've done? How many lives you've just ruined?"

"Just tell me how bad it is. Will she be ok?"

"She's dead." Ryan replied menacingly. "She's dead and you killed her."

"I didn't… I mean I just wanted-"

"You wanted to what? Tell her how much she meant to you? How much better your life was with her in it?" Volchok ignored Ryan's taunting questions and moved to sit down.

"Why couldn't you just leave it alone? She was moving on., making a new life for herself. She was even getting along with her mom for the first time in forever. But you couldn't let her could you?"

"Shut up!" he stood up and kicked the chair. "You don't know anything so just shut up."

"Tell me. What don't I know? Tell me."

"You don't know what we had so don't come here and tell me I was ruining her life.. She could have walked away a long time ago, but she came back. It was her choice."

"Just like it was her choice o go live with her dad. But you weren't going to let anything happen if it didn't include you right?"

"Get out! NOW!" he lunged at Ryan, but the other boy was quicker. Volchok lay on his back as Ryan walked out the door.

Summer lay in Ryan's bed holding a photo of her, Marissa, and the boys. Seth was still asleep beside her, with an arm around her waist.

"Why'd you have to go Coop? Why couldn't you have held on a little longer?"

'_I'm sorry Sum. I tried, I swear. But it was just too hard.'_ Marissa sat across the room, just like she used to do when they came out to play 'Play station'.

"But we need you. What are we going to do without you?"

'_You'll go to college. Everyone will move on and things will go back to normal.'_

"How can you say that? Nothing's going to be normal again!"

'_I'll always be here for you Summer. I love you.'_

"NO! Marissa wait!" Summer sat up, staring around the room.

"Summer, what happened?" Seth asked, sitting up beside her.

"You mean other than my best friend in the whole world dieing?"

"You were talking in your sleep."

"She was here Cohen. I was talking to Marissa." Seth's face flashed with a mask of worry, just long enough for Summer to see. "Don't look at me like I'm crazy. She's my best friend. I'm not letting her go. Lots of people talk to the dead."

"Ok, I was going to say anything about you being crazy."

"Good, cause I can still kick your ass." She replied with a tiny grin before silene washed over them. "What are we going to do without her Cohen?"

"What did she say we would do?"

"Move on. Go back to normal life."

"Then I guess that's what we have to do."

"What? But we can't- I can't."

"We have to Summer. There are things that we have to do with our lives. You can still love her forever, but we need to keep living. Do it for Marissa."

"He's right." Ryan said walking in. "She wouldn't want us to sit around and grieve for the rest of our lives. She would want us to go out and have fun, because she can't."

"Ok, so when did you two become all Dr. Phil-y"

"While you were asleep." Seth replied.

Jimmy Cooper stepped off the plane at the OC Airport, still hoping he was living a horrible nightmare.

As soon as he saw Sandy, he knew it was all true. He done what no parent ever deserved to have to do. He had out lived his child, who was ripped from the world all too soon.

"Jimmy, I'm so sorry."

"Just tell me how it all happened." He replied as they began walk.

"Ryan said they were driving to the- to here. Then out of no where, Marissa's ex boyfriend started honking at them. Ryan moved over, but he just kept doing it. He rammed into the back of their car, and moved up beside them. That's when they figured out who it was. Volchok was trying to get them to pull over so he could talk to Marissa. Ryan said he didn't want to, he thought that they could beat the other car." Sandy paused, letting his friend take it all in. "They were pushed right off the road and the car rolled over. Ryan got her out, carried her away from the wreck, he said that there were flames so he tried to get her a safe distance away. She woke up, and he told her he had to get help, but she said not to. That's when-"

"That's enough." Jimmy told him. They were walking out to the car and he looked as if he was about to be sick. "God, Ryan… Is he ok?"

"Ryan? He's fine. A little shaken up, but he'll be alright."

"Good. That's good. What about Julie? And Kaitlin."

"They aren't handling things too well. The whole time they were at our house, Kaitlin didn't move. She didn't speak or even cry. Julie was an inconsolable mess. Neil Roberts took them home after the police left."

"God I can't believe this. She was supposed to come stay with me, get her life on track, and then everything was going to go back to normal." Sandy didn't speak as Jimmy thought for a moment. "What's the name of the kid that killed my daughter?" he finally asked.

"Kevin Volchok. But the police-"

"Take me to see him?"

"Jimmy I don't think-"

"I want to confront the monster that did this Sandy. If it were Seth or Ryan, you would want the same thing."

"You should really see the police first."

"I don't want to talk to the damn police."

"They'll have him in custody by now, so you'll have to."

"Fine. Just take me wherever he's going to be."

"Kevin Volchok, open up!" they were pounding on his door, just as he was deciding to turn himself in. He didn't think stealing a car was such a big deal, but being responsible for someone's death. Well, he knew he couldn't run forever.

He took a deep breathe as he opened the door.

"Kevin Volchok?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"You're under arrest for manslaughter."

He put his hands out ready for the cuffs. There was no point in trying to run. As they pushed him out to the car they read him his rights. But he was pretty certain he could recite them himself by now.

The ride to the station was silent. He had nothing to say to them, nor them to him. As he was being brought into the station he saw a man with black curly hair, he looked like Ryan's shrimpy little friend. The man beside him had lighter hair, and he looked like he wanted to kill someone.

"Is that him?" the mystery man asked. "If that's him, I'm going in there."

"Jimmy just-"

"No Sandy. My daughter is dead because of him. I'm going."

"Sir, we'll have to ask you to stay out here until we've completed a formal interview." An officer said stepping in front of the door after Volchok was in the room.

"Sit down." Another officer growled at him. "Do you wish to have a lawyer present while we take your statement?"

"Nope."

"Ok, good. Is your name Kevin Volchok?"

"Yep."

"Were you driving along highway 86 late last night?"

"I was."

"While you were out driving did you happen to see a beige SUV?" (I don't know what kind of car it was, so I'm guessing.)

"Yes. Inside the car were Marissa Cooper and Ryan Atwood."

"And are you aware of what happened to the car, and its passenger's?"

"I ran them off the road. And Marissa died."

"So you understand why we've brought you here today?"

"I do."

"Good. We're placing you under arrest for the manslaughter of Marissa Cooper." The officer told him.

"I figured." He replied. "Can you tell her dad that… I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt her, I just-"

"Tell him yourself. He's requested to speak to you." Kevin nodded as the officer walked to the door.

"Mr. Cooper? You can come in now."

"You bastard! You killed her! How can you live with yourself? You took a life." Jimmy yelled as he stormed in and shoved him against the wall.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to talk to her." The cops tried to pull Jimmy away.

"Why? She made it clear she didn't want to see you. Why do you think she was leaving?"

"I know it was partly because of me, but I-"

"You don't deserve prison." He replied, confusing the boy. "You should get exactly what you gave. Someone should be as cruel as you were. But you should have much more time to suffer." He added as he was pulled out of the room. "You'll pay for this!" he yelled after the door was closed.

Three days had passed since the death of Marissa Cooper, and her funeral was about to begin. Summer Roberts was to deliver the Eulogy. Jimmy Cooper, Ryan Atwood, Luke Ward, Neil Roberts, Seth and Sandy Cohen were to carry her in and out of the church.

Kaitlin hadn't spoken a word since the news had reached her ears. And Julie hadn't stopped crying. Kirsten had to organise the service because it was all she could do. She didn't want to stop, because stopping would involve thinking,. And thinking of that poor girl was something she just didn't want to do.

Dennis Childress was there, along with Anna Stern, Taylor Townsend, and Alex Kelly, Theresa brought her son.

As Summer stood in front of the crowd of mourners, she began her speech, but was unable to complete it. As she stood there with hundreds of eyes on her, the pressure to continue became almost too much. Until Kaitlin stiod up beside her and picked up whee she left off, speaking in a croaky voice for the first time in days. Together they finished and the ceremony continued.

Everyone said their goodbyes to a girl who had touched so many lives.

THAT'S IT! Yay, I'm finished. Ok, so that's really depressing isn't it? I'm totally insane but I had to get this out of my head. According to my sister it's taken me about 5, maybe 5 and ½ hours to write, I have never done anything that quick before. So, tell me what you think.


End file.
